Connection diaphragms between articulated cars

ABSTRACT

A connection diaphragm is provided for articuately connecting long multi-deck railway vehicles constructed in sections so that said vehicles are capable of negotiating curves in trackage along which said coupled vehicles travel. The diaphragm comprises a pair of units telescopingly and pivotally connected to the adjacent ends of a pair of coupled articulated railway car sections so as to telescope inwardly with respect to an associated section upon buff contact and also to pivot when the cars negotiate a curved section of track.

United States Patent 1 [1 1'] 3,871,276

Allen Mar. 18, 1975 I CONNECTION DIAPHRAGMS BETWEEN 3,370,552 2/1968 Podesta et a1. 105/458 x ARTICULATED CARS 3,678,863 7/1972 Pringle 105/4 R Inventor: John W. Allen, Flossmoor, Ill.

Assignee: Stanray Corporation, Chicago, 111. Filed: Aug. 17, 1973 Appl. No.: 389,339

US. Cl 105/8 R, 105/368 R, 105/410 Int. Cl. B6ld 17/20 Field of Search 105/3, 4 R, 8 R, 15-20,

Ryan 105/368 R Primary Examiner-R0bert S. Ward, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sabin C. Bronson 57] ABSTRACT A connection diaphragm is provided for articuately connecting long multi-deck railway vehicles con structed in sections so that said vehicles are capable of negotiating curves in trackage along which said coupled vehicles travel.

The diaphragm comprises a pair of units telescopingly and pivotally connected to the adjacent ends of a pair of coupled articulated railway car sections so as to telescope inwardly with respect to an associated section upon buff contact and also totpivot when the cars negotiate a curved section of track.

4 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures H l IO SHEET 1 0F 5 PATENIEB MR 1 81975 Sumac BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to multi-deck railway vehicles for transporting automobiles and more particularly to multi-deck vehicles of the foregoing type which are formed with articulated sections.

Multi-deck railway vehicles used for the purpose of transporting automobiles are currently being enclosed or suitably covered to minimize vandalism. At the same time these vehiclesare desirably of maximum length so as to correspondingly maximize the carrying capacity of the vehicle. In order to accomplish this result it has been proposed to provide multi-deck vehicles constructed in sections and articulately connected in order to be capable of negotiating the curved trackage along which the vehicle travels. i

The articulately connected vehicles are closely spaced but still require a connecting structure between the sections to permit traverse of the automobiles between the sections and also to prevent access to the decks at the articulated ends.

To this end the present invention proposes to provide a pair of units which are telescoping and pivotally connected to the adjacent ends of the articulated railway vehicle and arranged in end-to-end relationship. The units are connected to the articulated car sections so as to telescope inwardly with respect to an associated section upon buff contact and also to pivot about'the longitudinal axes ofthe sections as the articulated sections negotiate curved trackage and the like.

More specifically the units each are of generally rectangular frame structure. The rectangular frames are pivotally and slidably connected along the center line of the associated articulated car section. Yieldably biasing means along each of thesides of the articulated car sections maintain the units in end-to-end relationship while permitting the units to telescope and pivot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an articulated multideck railway vehicle embodying the connecting structure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken generally along the lines 22 of FIG. 1 showing the manthe lines 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional plan'view taken generally along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional plan view taken generally along the lines-7-7 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 6 showing the connection at the roof.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 7 showing the connection of the unit to the intermediate and upper decks.

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view taken generally along the lines 10-10 of FIG. 2 showing the connection to the lower or base floor.

Referring now to the drawings, in particular FIG. 1, there is shown a multi-deck railway vehicle 10 having a plurality of sections 11 of substantially the same structure.

The sections 11 each include an underframe 12 on which there is constructed the lower or A deck 13. Projecting upwardly from the side plates ofthe underframe are upstanding supports or channels 14. The intermediate or B deck 16 and upper or C deck 17 are supported between the upright channels 14 along each side of the vehicle. A roof- 18 extends between the terminal ends of the upright channels 14, the sides of which are enclosed by side sheets 19. The sections 11 are articulated by couplers 20 so as to maintain a normal spacing of about 20 inches between the sections. Associated with the adjacent ends of the articulated sections 11 is a connecting structure 21 embodying the structure of the present invention. 'The connecting structure 21- comprises a pair of rectangular frames or diaphragms 22 which are associated with the adjacent ends of the articulated car sections 11. The units 22 are of similar construction so that it is deemed necessary to describe only one.

The rectangular frame 22 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 comprises a pair of laterally spaced side sheets 23 terminating along the outer edges thereof in right angular flanges 24. Wear plates 26 may be welded to the faces of the flanges 24.

Spanning the frame side sheet 23 isa roof or top sheet 27 which is also formed with a right angular flange 28. The top plate 27 is formed along each side with a downwardly projecting portion 29 which abuts the inner face of the associated 'side sheets 23. The terminal end of downwardly projecting portion 29 is formed with a horizontally projecting flange 31. A pair of bolts 32 extend through the flange 31 and a leg 32 of an angle iron 33 which is welded to the inner face of the frame side sheet 23. The bolts 32 also secure a channel 35 to flange 31 and angle iron 33. In this manner the roof sheet 27 is fixed to the side in a'manner permitting limited relative twisting movement at the connection. Gussets 34 may be used to provide a more rigid connection. I

Spanning the side sheets 23 at the same level as the upper deck 17 and intermediate deck 16 is a bridging sheet 36 which may be formed with longitudinally extending hat shaped projections 36a. Downwardly projecting flanges 37 abut against the side sheets 23 and terminate in inwardly projecting flanges 38. The flanges 38 receive bolts 39 which extend through a channel 41 and a leg 42 of an angle iron 43 fastened as by welding to the side sheets 23. A gusset 45 is fixed between the bridging sheet and downwardly projecting flange 37.

A lower bridging sheet 44 having an upstanding web 46 abutting the inner face of the side sheets 23 at each end is located at the base 13. The lower bridging sheet 44 includes a center channel 47 which accommodates the center sill 48. The upstanding web 46 terminates in an inwardly projecting flange 48. The flange 48 and web 44 and suitably reinforced by a gusset 49. A bolt 51 extends through the flange 48 and through a leg 53 of an angle iron 54 fixed as by welding to the side sheet 23. In this manner the lower bridge sheet 44 is rigidly connected to the side sheets 23, while the roof sheets and intermediate and upper bridge sheets are flexibly connected to the side sheets. This structural arrangement permits flexing of the rectangular frame 22 relative to the vehicle section 11.

The lower bridging sheet 44, intermediate and upper bridging sheets 36 may each be provided with tread guides 56 in the form of inverted channels welded thereo. The tread guides 56 may be aligned with the tread guides 57 on the upper intermediate and lower decks l3, l6 and 17 of the vehicles sections 11.

The rectangular frame 22 is mounted for turning movement about the longitudinal axes of the vehicle and also for limited lengthwise relative movement. This is accomplished by the connecting structure shown more particularly in FIGS. 2, 6, 7, and 8-10.

The lower connection as shown in FIGS. 2 and is achieved by forming an elongated slot 58 in the center channel 47 which accommodates the shank 59 ofa bolt 61. The bolt 61 is seated in a strap 62 which is fixed to the lower deck by bolts 63. The lower end of the bolt shank 59 is seated in an opening in the lower deck and bolted therein.

The upper and intermediate deck connections are illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 9 respectively. A rectangular plate 64 is fixed to the top sheet of the rectangular frame. An elongated slot 65 is provided in the plate 64 and slidably and turnably accommodates the shank 66 of a bolt 67 carried by a strap 68 fixed to the intermediate and upper decks respectively by bolts 69. The bolts 69 extend through reinforcing channels 70 located on the underside of the decks. The bolt 67 similarly is fastened to the.decks and extends through a reinforcing channel 70.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 the roof 18 includes an extension having a downwardly projecting flange 71 fixed to an upwardly projecting ledge 72. i

A horizontal web 73 carries a bolt 74 of which the shank 75 extends through an elongated slot 76 formed in the top or roof sheet 27 of the rectangular frame 22. The lower end ofthe bolt 74 extends through a bracket 76 fixed to a web 77 of a bracket sheet secured to the flange 71.

The rectangular frame or diaphragm 22 is thus capable of pivoting about the bolts 61, 67 and 74 and also moves lengthwise relative to the end of the car section 11.

Yieldably holding the diaphragm 22 in position in alignment with the end of the associated section there is provided a biasing structure 81 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The biasing structure 81 comprises two pairs of laterally spaced biasing arms 82 which are pivotally secured to housing brackets 83 attached to each of the side sheets 19 adjacent the base 13 and on the upper deck 17.

The housing brackets 83 each comprise an upper cover plate 84, a lower bottom plate-86 and a pair of laterally spaced side straps 8787. A pivot pin 88 supports the biasing arm 83 which is of generally triangular shape. A roller 89 is carried at one corner and a connecting pin at the other end.

Fixed to the upper one of the arms 82 by means of the pin 91 is a plural opening end 92 fixed to a rod 93 of which the other end is hooked and receives a looped end ofa tension spring 94. The other end of the tension spring 94 is attached to the pin 9l of the lower one of the biasing arms 82.

The rods 93 and tension springs 94 along each side of the car sections cause the rollers to engage wear plates 95 along each side of the rectangular frame as shown in FIG. 5. In this manner the rectangular frames 22 on adjacent ends of the car sections 11 are biased to the normal position shown in full lines. Should, however, the car sections 11 be traversing a curve, the flanges of the rectangular frame along the inside or outside of the curve will engage and cause the frames on the car sections to pivot about the pins 61, 67 and 74. Should the car sections be subjected to a buff force, the rectangular frames or diaphragms may slide longitudinally in the slots 58, 65 and 76 so that the frames may telescope relative to the car sections.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway vehicle comprising a pair of connected car sections, said sections each having a floor and a roof, connecting means for spanning the space between said sections, said connecting means comprising rectangular frames mounted on the adjacent ends of said sections, pivot pin means located intermediate the sides of said respective car sections on the longitudinal axes thereof, means mounting said rectangular frames for free turning movement about the longitudinal axes of said vehicle sections, slot means in said frames accommodating said pivot pin means for permitting lengthwise movement of said frames relative to said pivot means, and biasing means mounted on said respective sections engageable with the sides of said rectangular frames for normally positioning said frames in end-toend relationship and permitting said frames to tele scope and pivot relative to each other and to an associated section.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said vehicle and said sections include a plurality of decks, and wherein said rectangular frame means includes bridging plates for bridging the space between said sections.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said frames includes a top sheet at approximately the same level as said roof of said sections. and a base sheet.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said frames includes laterally spaced side sheets, means rigidly connecting said base sheet to said side sheet, and means flexibly connecting said bridging 

1. A railway vehicle comprising a pair of connected car sections, said sections each having a floor and a roof, connectIng means for spanning the space between said sections, said connecting means comprising rectangular frames mounted on the adjacent ends of said sections, pivot pin means located intermediate the sides of said respective car sections on the longitudinal axes thereof, means mounting said rectangular frames for free turning movement about the longitudinal axes of said vehicle sections, slot means in said frames accommodating said pivot pin means for permitting lengthwise movement of said frames relative to said pivot means, and biasing means mounted on said respective sections engageable with the sides of said rectangular frames for normally positioning said frames in end-to-end relationship and permitting said frames to telescope and pivot relative to each other and to an associated section.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said vehicle and said sections include a plurality of decks, and wherein said rectangular frame means includes bridging plates for bridging the space between said sections.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said frames includes a top sheet at approximately the same level as said roof of said sections, and a base sheet.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said frames includes laterally spaced side sheets, means rigidly connecting said base sheet to said side sheet, and means flexibly connecting said bridging sheets and top sheet to said frame. 